Professor Christine Wilson’s Life in the Natural World course has returned with a new civic engagement project.
After the success of the 2023 U-Pass win, the new student cohort is embarking on another campus partner sustainable initiative.
Their goal is to start a meal swipe donation drive, where unused meal swipes will be donated to our own DU food pantry.
Each member of the class was required to write an op-ed; the class then voted on a winner to be published in the Star.
Below you’ll find Stephanie Cuatepitzi’s submission as well as a petition to show your support for their swipe drive initiative.
My name is Stephanie Cuatepitzi, and I am a resident student at Dominican University. As a resident, I am required to purchase a meal plan; each week, I am allotted 10 meal swipes.
On Sundays, I start at 10 and slowly dwindle throughout the week, only to go home every weekend and leave approximately four meal swipes unused.
Now, every weekend, four meal swipes essentially go to waste, which is 64 meals over the course of the term. When I try to make a conscious effort and invite friends to eat, I still have one or two swipes that go unused each week.
This inefficiency leads me to ask our administration for a policy change. I want to have the ability to donate meal swipes that I do not use to people who might need them. I strongly believe that my fellow students will perform much better in class if they are given equitable and merciful access to one of our most basic needs.
With having a proper meal and feeling satisfied, the brain will improve, and students will feel energized and ready to learn. Looking at the make-up of our own campus, most of our students are commuters. We have a total of 2788 commuters at Dominican. I am confident that out of those 2788 students, most do not have a proper meal until they go home later that day.
As a resident, I want to donate my meal swipes to people who might need them here on campus.
Please sign our class petition in support of this policy change.
